Eric Duncan, the mayor of North Dundas, Ont., a community of 2,400 people about 50 kilometres south of Ottawa, said he wanted the family to have a smooth transition to life in Canada.

“Myself being single and having a mother nearby that I could live with, I said I would give up my house so the family could move here, get settled into Canada and then figure out where in Winchester or North Dundas they wanted to live,” Dundan told CTV Ottawa.

The arrangement gave parents Dania Al Muazzen and Adel Al Ghorani a space to raise their three kids while they saved up to open their own store.

They like it,” said Al Muazzen.

They settled in North Dundas thanks to 20 people in the community, who raised enough money in 2015 to privately sponsor the family from war-torn Syria.